Wellington Arch - English Heritage

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020 7930 2726

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The neoclassical arch, England's answer to the Arc de Triomphe, was first erected in 1826 as a grand entrance to Buckingham Palace. From 1846, it was topped with a huge equestrian statue of the Duke of Wellington but a major road widening of Piccadilly in 1882, due to the increasing demands of Victorian traffic, was used as an excuse to remove the oversized statue to Aldershot. In 1912 the magnificent statue 'Peace Descending on the Quadriga of War' was placed on top of the Arch, and remains today the largest bronze sculpture in the country. In more recent times, this Decimus Burton monument served time as the smallest police station in the city in the 1950s, when it was occupied by ten constables, two sergeants and a cat! Opened to the public for the first time in April 2001 after a Â£1.5 million restoration by English Heritage, Wellington Arch is available for corporate and private events. With dramatic views down Constitution Hill and across central London from the Arch's spacious balconies, Wellington Arch is a novel and unique place to impress your guests.